


Sing Us a Song

by Highlander_II



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Community: au_bingo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-28
Updated: 2012-03-28
Packaged: 2017-11-02 15:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highlander_II/pseuds/Highlander_II
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"They were gonna have me pick up trash, but the orange jumpsuit didn't fit."</i>
</p>
<p>House is moonlighting in a blues bar to earn extra cash.  Cameron finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sing Us a Song

Cameron and her girlfriends approached the club's door - a rather unremarkable door in the midst of an equally unremarkable building - and ducked inside. Going inside required stepping down into a sunken room. It was darker than outside, dim, subdued lighting, smoky and warm. Cameron thought it felt like a bar from an old movie, like _Casablanca_. There was even a piano in the corner near the bar. An old upright. It looked worn, but well cared for. It was a beautiful instrument. Her first thought on seeing it was that House would love it.

She rolled her eyes at herself and took a seat at a table with her friends.

Drinks appeared in front of her before she realized what was going on. Apparently her friends thought she needed to loosen up and have some fun. That was the idea tonight. To let go. To let her hair down. To enjoy herself with her friends. No talk of work or relationships or anything else. Just fun stuff.

Like the amazing-sounding blues music starting up from the piano. Cameron thought it was just a player-piano until someone asked if the guy playing looked a bit like Cameron's boss. With an incredulous laugh, she turned in her chair. Damn if he didn't look a hell of a lot like her boss.

"Does your boss have a second job?" Mattie asked.

Cameron shook her head. "I don't think so." She shrugged. "Probably just a coincidence." Though she only half-believed that herself. She turned back to her friends, sipped her drink and tried not to think about how much the piano player looked like House.

* * *

He had seen her. He had seen her cadre of friends giggling and acting like schoolgirls when they saw him. And he had seen her pretend she didn't recognize him. There wasn't a chance she didn't know. But, if she didn't know it was him, he'd take advantage of it for as long as he could.

House played through the first half of his set, then slipped away to the men's room, hoping Cameron and her friends hadn't seen where he had gone. How had she even found this place? Had she followed him? He didn't think she was stealth enough to manage that. Had she seen something in his e-mail or on his desk? He was certain he'd kept all of that away from the office, but something might have straggled in. Of course, she wasn't answering his mail anymore, so it was less likely that she'd have found him that way. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Except, he didn't believe in coincidence.

He did what he needed to do in the men's room, then stepped back into the hall, eager for his free bourbon and the second half of his set. In the narrow corridor behind the bar, he bumped into a blonde woman. He was even polite enough to mutter an 'excuse me' as he squeezed past her.

"Oh my God. They were right."

House cringed. Dammit. She'd figured it out. Hard not to in such close quarters, but he'd tried. He tried to ignore her and get back out to the main room.

"Are you doing community service or something?" she asked.

It made him smile at least. He wasn't sure if that was his influence or if she was just annoyed that she hadn't known. "They were gonna have me pick up trash, but the orange jumpsuit didn't fit." He could only hope that playing blues music in a bar would be his punishment for any of his wrongs. His luck wasn't that good.

She smiled back at him. "Orange really isn't your color anyway," she tossed back, playful and light. "I - I've never heard you play before. It - that was really good."

He lifted his eyes and saw color rising in her cheeks. Huh. Complimenting him made _her_ blush. Interesting. "Thanks." What else could he say? He wanted to tell her to clam up and promise not to tell anyone. He wanted to lock her in the ladies room so she _couldn't_ tell anyone. He could see it now, all of the hob-knobby people from the hospital crushing into this little bar to get a look at the doctor trapped playing piano to pay off fines and debts while his license was suspended.

He wasn't an animal at the zoo. He wasn't an exhibit. He wanted to be left alone.

She was quiet for a long time. A really long time. He thought he'd fallen asleep, but when he opened his eyes, she was staring at him, her eyes shiny and blinking. "Now you're going to go back and tell everyone and I'll have to deal with that for months..." he sighed heavily.

Cameron shook her head. "If you don't want me to say anything, I won't. But you're really good, House. You could make a decent living playing the piano."

"I could make a decent living if I still had my medical license," he breathed and left her alone in the tiny corridor.

He wanted his life back to normal. He wanted his puzzles. He wanted this night to have never happened. He wanted to make sure Cameron never told anyone.

He'd deal with all of that later. For the next two hours, he was the blues version of Billy Joel's piano man.


End file.
